No news is good news as far as Arsene Wenger is concerned on the subject of Robin van Persie as the Arsenal manager has confirmed that there are no new developments on the future of the striker.

The Dutchman yesterday made his first appearance for the Gunners since last season when he replaced new signing Lukas Podolski during a 4-0 friendly victory over Cologne.

His introduction saw the travelling fans of the north London club make their feelings clear on last term’s top goalscorer who has been embroiled in a ‘will he stay or will he go’ transfer saga this summer with Manchester United, neighbours City and Italian giants Juventus playing tug of war for his affections.

Van Persie has one year left of his contract with the Gunners but, but his manager has no intention of letting his star turn exit before the transfer window slams shut on August 31.

“There’s no news on van Persie,” Wenger told the Sun. “Our fans want him to stay so you can understand they are excited. Anything I could say about van Persie would be a lie because he’s our player and that’s it.

“Robin scored 30 goals last season and you want to keep your best player. He was player of the year in England. We want to keep him. I cannot tell you more at the moment because I don’t know more.

“We have not bought the players to replace van Persie, but to strengthen our squad with the thinking van Persie will stay. That’s still my mind at the moment.”

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